HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



267 



contributor of Science-Gossip. It takes quite 

 different ground to any other "bee-book " we know, 

 and is not likely to interfere with their special 

 work. At the same time it is original enough to 

 chalk out ground of its own, and to fill up the 

 outlines with appreciative detail. A Manual of 

 Rational Bee- Keeping, by C. de Ribeaucourt (London : 

 David Bogue), is a translation, by Mr. A. F. G. 

 Leveson-Gower, of the work of a well-known Swiss 

 pastor, who has effected a great reform in bee- 

 keeping by his cheap and newly-devised hives, 

 which can be efficiently made out of any old box. 

 We can, too, thoroughly recommend this cheap and 

 highly practical little book to all who are interested 

 in apiculture. 



Animal Magnetism, by Rudolf Heidenhain, M.D. 

 (London: C. Kegan Paul & Co.), is well translated 

 by L. C. Wooldridge, B.Sc, and is further recom- 

 mended by a preface from the pen of Mr. C. J. 

 Romanes. This book marks a well-known line of 

 departure in the pseudo-science of " electro-biology." 

 It deals with the phenomena of hypnotism, mesmer- 

 ism, catalepsy, &c, entirely from physiological data, 

 and removes for ever all those semi-mystical illusions 

 which have rendered this subject the " forlorn hope" 

 of the vulgar and the empirical. It is most pleasant 

 to find phenomena hitherto unexplainable fall into 

 their orderly places under the experimenting hand of 

 such a skilled practitioner as Dr. Heidenhain. This 

 is a small book, but likely to be a very effective one. 

 The Heart and its Functions (London : David 

 Bogue) is another of the shilling series of practical 

 "works which Mr. Bogue has issued and which have 

 been so well received by the public. The list of 

 the names of this series includes the highest medical 

 and surgical authorities in Great Britain ; and we 

 cannot but feel grateful that these gentlemen do not 

 feel it beneath them to write shilling " Health 

 Primers" for the benefit of the people ! Magnetism 

 and Electricity, by Professor Guthrie (London and 

 Glasgow : William Collins, Sons, & Co.), is a 

 cheap, comprehensive, and exhaustive manual, in- 

 tended for the general student, and written by one 

 of our best authorities on the subject. Its practical 

 value is indicated by the fact that the work is based 

 on the notes of the Lectures Dr. Guthrie has been in 

 the habit of giving to mining students and science 

 teachers during the last six years, in connection with 

 the School of Mines and South Kensington. It is a 

 clear, full, and complete digest of all that is known 

 up to the present of these rapidly increasing sciences. 

 Practical Plane Geometry and Projection, by Henry 

 Angell, is another of the "Advanced Science 

 Series " by the same enterprising publishers (Messrs. 

 Collins, Sons, & Co.). It is in two volumes, one 

 devoted to the text, and a larger-sized volume to the 

 illustrative plates. The selection of the problems 

 is original, being based on the author's own class- 

 teaching. The solution of each problem not only 



elaborates a method, but also teaches a principle. 

 Outlines of Physiography, by William Lawson, 

 F.R.G.S. (Edinburgh: Oliver & Boyd), is another 

 of the Manuals which South Kensington has called 

 into existence for the use of science teachers as well as 

 science students. Although the author modestly terms 

 it a "Text-book for the Elementary Stage," it is in 

 our opinion more clearly compiled than many larger 

 and more pretentious books. The ground taken is 

 extensive enough, so much so that nothing short of 

 " Physiography " would have included it. It compre- 

 hends chemistry (as applied to the elements in their 

 natural combinations), geology, vulcanicity, physical 

 geography (formerly so-called) in all its multitudinous 

 departments ; as well as the relations of the earth 

 as a planet to the solar and stellar systems. Mr. 

 Lawson, however, has performed a difficult task 

 clearly and well, and we heartily commend his 

 cheap little book to the notice of those for whom it 

 has been written. 



The Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge 

 has recently taken a new lease of vigorous life, as 

 is indicated by the various new grounds they are en- 

 deavouring to cover by their publications. Here we have 

 several seasonable books : — Some Heroes of Travel, 

 by W. H. Davenport Adams (London : S. P. C. K.), 

 in which the author very skilfully and pleasantly 

 relates the discoveries of geographers from the time 

 of Marco Polo to those of Sir Samuel Baker. This 

 book is a very skilful digest of geographical dis- 

 covery in every quarter of the globe during the long 

 period represented by those two names. Wrecked 

 Lives ; or Men who have Failed, is by the same author 

 and publishers, and deals (in two series) with such 

 biographies as those of Wolsey, Chatterton, Savage, 

 Robespierre, Burns, Poe, Heine, &c, in Mr. Adams's 

 well-known animated style. The " Ancient Philoso- 

 phies for Modern Readers " series (also by the 

 S. P. C. K.) has recently received two additions — 

 Stoicism, by the Rev. W. H. Capes ; and Epicurean- 

 ism, by William Wallace, M.A. Both these books 

 are worthy of their predecessors, which is according 

 them high praise, seeing that Buddhism is written by 

 so talented an Oriental scholar as Mr. T. W. Rhys 

 Davies, the A'oran, by Sir William Muir, and 

 Hinduism, by Professor Monier Williams. 



Dulness in Objectives. — I have only just 

 returned after a long absence and have been unable 

 till now to thank many correspondents for their sug- 

 gestions as to the cause of dulness in the field of my 

 I in. objective noticed by me in Science-Gossip two 

 months or more ago. Some of the suggestions were 

 very ingenious, but I find that the real cause lay in 

 the fact that changes of temperature cause a film to 

 be deposited on the surface which requires to be 

 cleaned off occasionally. — IV, G. Woollcombe, Trinity 

 College, Oxford. 



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